The papers of Jack Roosevelt Robinson (1919-1972) span the years 1934-2001, with the bulk of the material dating from his introduction as the first African American to play major league baseball in the twentieth century in 1947 to the fortieth anniversary in 1987 of this event. The main body of the Robinson Papers was transferred by his widow, Rachel, in 1985 to the Jackie Robinson Foundation, a nonprofit organization she founded in 1973. Additional material from a variety of sources, including photocopies of selected items from other collections of papers in the Library of Congress, was added to the collection by the foundation prior to its donation to the Library. The papers contain correspondence, memoranda, telegrams, subject files, baseball contracts, fan mail, speeches and writings, financial and legal records, congressional testimony, military records, and a variety of printed material relating to Robinson's career as a baseball player and corporate executive and to his participation in political activities, religious and civic organizations, the civil rights movement, and media affairs. The collection also contains numerous items celebrating Robinson's legacy represented in a series of posthumous commemorations and events. The papers are organized in the following series: Baseball File, Civil Rights, Political File, Business and Corporate File, Religious and Civic Activities, Subject File, Speeches and Writings, Miscellany, and 2023 Addition.

When Jackie Robinson began his career with the Brooklyn Dodgers in 1947, he broke the unwritten "color line" that had existed in major league baseball since the late nineteenth century, and a major portion of the collection is devoted to his pioneering efforts in this regard. The Baseball File contains correspondence with friends and associates, baseball officials, and sportswriters affiliated with the sport, including Buzzie Bavasi, Roy Campanella, Happy Chandler, Charles Dressen, Arthur Mann, Ralph Norton, Walter F. O'Malley, Branch Rickey, and Joseph L. Reichler. The series includes originals and photocopies of Robinson's baseball contracts with the Dodgers, as well as his unsigned contract with the New York Giants following his trade in 1956. Fan mail from home and abroad offered Robinson support and encouragement in his efforts both on and off the field, while often providing a glimpse into the writers' own struggles with racial intolerance. Although the subject of discrimination in baseball is a constant theme throughout the entire collection, the Baseball File especially contains specific files on the topic.

After the 1956 season, the Dodgers traded Robinson to their crosstown rivals, the New York Giants. Robinson declined to accept the trade and announced his retirement from baseball in 1957. The Baseball File contains material relating to Robinson's trade and subsequent retirement, including the public's response to both. In 1962, Robinson became the first African American player to win election to the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum in Cooperstown, New York. The Baseball File contains congratulatory letters and tributes in celebration of the event, including material documenting a testimonial dinner given in his honor by the Southern Christian Leadership Conference. A telegram from Martin Luther King, Jr., who had a central role in sponsoring the dinner, regretting his absence due to "an important turn of events in Albany, Georgia," symbolizes the link between athletics and civil rights issues which defined Robinson for the remainder of his life.

Robinson joined King in the civil rights action known as the Albany Movement, and a file on the Mount Olive Baptist Church, Sasser, Georgia, in the Civil Rights series reveals the aftermath of that protest. The series further highlights Robinson's commitment on behalf of civil rights in his work with the Congress of Racial Equality, the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, the Student Emergency Fund, and the NAACP, which awarded him the Spingarn Medal in 1956. Material concerning tensions that arose between Robinson and other members of the civil rights community, including his criticism of Roy Wilkins's leadership of the NAACP and his open conflict with Malcolm X, is also contained in this series.

In addition to his support of racial equality at home, Robinson also developed an interest in the African independence movement. As a trustee of the African American Students Foundation, Robinson sponsored African students at American colleges and universities, and as a member of the American Committee on Africa, he supported a boycott of the 1968 Olympic Games in protest against the readmittance of the Union of South Africa, which had been barred from the 1964 games. The Civil Rights series contains material concerning Robinson's contributions in support of these and other African-related issues and organizations.

Robinson signaled the start of his involvement in political affairs by endorsing Richard M. Nixon in the 1960 presidential campaign. Although he identified with the Republican party, Robinson declared that he voted not for the party but for the candidate, and his eventual support of the Democratic administration of John F. Kennedy and for Democratic party candidates in the 1964 and 1968 presidential elections illustrated this point. The Political File documents Robinson's various political alliances, including his affiliations with the progressive wing of the Republican party, primarily as a close adviser of New York governor Nelson A. Rockfeller, for whom he served as special assistant for community affairs.

Though not fully engaged as a political activist until the 1960s, Robinson was no stranger to political controversy as evidenced by his 1949 appearance before the United States House Un-American Activities Committee, where he refuted Paul Robeson's alleged statement that African Americans would not fight in a war against the Soviet Union. Robinson's testimony in the Political File recalls his support of American values and traditions and explores the aftermath of this witness to his faith in America as well. A temporary alliance in 1963 between Harlem congressman Adam Clayton Powell and Malcolm X was the focal point for further controversy involving Robinson. Public reaction to an open letter written by Robinson critical of Powell and published in the Amsterdam News is contained in the Political File. Other public officials represented in the Political File, in addition to those noted above, include Chester Bowles, Barry Goldwater, W. Averell Harriman, Hubert H. Humphrey, Lyndon B. Johnson, Kenneth B. Keating, and Robert F. Kennedy.

Following his retirement from baseball in 1957, Robinson accepted a position as vice president for personnel with Chock Full O'Nuts, a coffee manufacturer and lunch counter chain. As an advocate of "minority enterprise," Robinson also helped establish several black-owned businesses, including the Freedom National Bank of New York, the Gibraltar Life Insurance Company, and the Hamilton Life Insurance Company. The Business and Corporate File contains material relating to these business ventures as well as to other aspects of Robinson's career as a businessman and entrepreneur and to his promotion of economic development in the African American community at large.

The Religious and Civic Activities series highlights Robinson's work with church and interfaith organizations, including the National Conference of Christians and Jews, the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America, and the United Church Men of the United Church of Christ. Reflecting Robinson's commitment to community-based affairs and active sense of social responsibility, the series also documents his many civic activities, in particular his participation in youth guidance and counseling programs. Material relating to Robinson's concern for urban renewal and housing for disadvantaged populations, including a small file on the Jackie Robinson Construction Company, is also located in this series.

The Subject File documents Robinson's broadcasting and media activities as well as the many tributes in his honor occasioned by his death in 1972. In addition to his role as a sportscaster, Robinson's work on radio and television enabled him to publicize his personal views and beliefs through political and social commentary. The Subject File contains contracts, program proposals, and transcripts relating to Robinson's media appearances, while his legacy is celebrated through numerous commemorations, posthumous tributes, and awards. The Subject File also contains the records of the Jackie Robinson Foundation, a nonprofit organization founded to promote leadership development and scholarship among marginalized youth.

Robinson was a popular public speaker, and the Speeches and Writings series displays the breadth of his audiences and interests. In addition to speeches, the series also contains drafts, contracts, notes, and outlines of the articles and books Robinson wrote with collaborators, including Baseball Has Done It , Breakthrough to the Big League , and I Never Had It Made . Extensive files relating to Carl Thomas Rowan's biography, Wait Till Next Year , are also located here, as is correspondence with associates and coauthors, most notably, Alfred Duckett, Robinson's long-time ghostwriter. The series includes items relating to the 1950 motion picture The Jackie Robinson Story , in which Robinson starred, and the script of the 1980 Broadway musical The First .

Robinson served as a commissioned second lieutenant in the United States Army from 1942 to1944. The Miscellany series contains medical and personnel records from Robinson's military service, including court-martial charges of insubordination resulting from his refusal to obey an order to move to the back of a segregated military bus in Texas. A military jury acquitted Robinson, and shortly thereafter, he received an honorable discharge. A small group of family papers is also included in the Miscellany series, as are the many condolences received following his death.

A 2023 Addition to the papers consists of a May 1958 letter from Robinson to President Dwight D. Eisenhower responding to the president's urge for "patience" on the topic of civil rights, and correspondence and memoranda regarding African American athlete Joe Yancey's nomination for the "Good Neighbor" Award given by Rhiengold Brewery (S. Liebmann Brewery).